Hydrophobic polymer-supported catalyst for organic reactions in water: acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of thioesters and transprotection of thiols.

[reaction: see text] A hydrophobic polystyrene-supported sulfonic acid was found to be effective for hydrolysis of thioesters in pure water. It was revealed that the catalyst was much superior to other Brønsted acid catalysts. Transprotection of thiols from thioesters to thioethers has been successfully performed in water using this catalytic system.